Printemps (Spring)

Oneshot

By HamburgerWithTea

/AN/

Please note the age difference between Arthur and Alfred would be around 2 years or so uwu Also this fic was inspired by Coeur de Pirate's 'Printemps' of which you'll be able to find an English translation video on youtube.

I like to imagine this fic is somewhat taking place in Paris orz, but I didn't state that as I couldn't come up with a proper reason.

From beneath his eyelashes, Arthur had spotted him.

The bright sun of a hot summer day had shone upon his hair as glasses had reflected that same light, almost preventing one from seeing the beautiful, blue eyes behind them. His muscular yet flexible body fitted perfectly in the slim-fit shirt as he had moved around.

Arthur hadn't seen him before, but he had been captivated the moment he saw the guy. He had gone to see a yearly dance performance, such as he had done for the past years, but on that one humid summer day in 2003 he suddenly didn't care for the dancers anymore, nor the acts they would perform. Instead he focussed on the guy a few metres away from him, unable to avert his eyes.

That was a few years back now. Over the passed time, Arthur would attend the same festival again and again, as usual, but instead of focussing on the performance, he'd watch the guy from a distance. It was only these times he would see the other.

As years had passed, his desire to be noticed had grown bigger and bigger, yet he wouldn't do anything about it. He couldn't. Every time he was about to step in and get in touch with the other, he would find himself walking away from the scene instead. Rather than becoming reality over the years, the emotions and dreams had piled up to become a very heavy secret instead.

Arthur's hope was like a tree. Each year a branch would fall off, only to have less and less hope left. Each year they would fall on the pavement, such as the trees did when it would finally become autumn again, and each year they would shatter yet another amount of hope. At this point the tree was almost bare, only one branch remaining; almost no hope left. Or so he thought.

It was yet another yearly dance performance he went to, expecting nothing more than the usual, when fate twisted in a weird way.

Standing underneath a tree, Arthur had watched the other as usual, planning to do nothing else. The sun was bright, the air humid, and the smell of sweat hung all around the area. It was the familiar setting as how the summer festival had been over the past years, the feeling of excitement in the air as all sorts of sounds could be heard. And it was then, when Arthur least expected it, that he found himself immersed into the glasses of a person who seemed to be looking him right in the eye.

It was him.

Due to the reflection of the glasses, Arthur was unable to spot the blue eyes, which made him doubt that the guy was even looking at him. There was no one standing next to Arthur, so it couldn't be that the guy was looking at someone there. Maybe there was someone behind him?

With a quick glance Arthur looked around, but there was no one there.

By the time Arthur focussed on the other male again, the guy had started to walk towards him, slowly stretching out his hand, which made Arthur feel like he was about to be greeted.

"Hey there," The unfamiliar voice of the other suddenly said, Arthur had seen him around but never had been able to hear the other's voice due to the surrounding sounds, "Are you on your own? Because I feel like I've seen you before, so if you want to join us you're free to do so!"

Join us, he'd said. Arthur could join him.

Arthur felt insecure about what to answer. He had wanted to be noticed, he'd wanted to meet the guy, talk to him, share interests, get to admire the very existence of this person in front of him more often than just once a year, yet his tongue, his mouth, his voice wouldn't work.

"Ah I'm sorry I startled you," The other continued, grinning silly, "I'm Alfred F. Jones, nice to meet you!" Before realising what was happening, Arthur was shaking Alfred's hand, nodding in reply.

"A-Arthur Kirkland," He replied, not sure what else to do. After all, he didn't want to come off as rude, that would only shatter his last bit of hope. But before he could come up with something, he was being dragged off to the more crowded area where Alfred had been standing.

Arthur looked up at the stage for the first time since a long while. Suddenly he realised how much had changed over the years. The dancers had aged, some had joined, some had left. Some had married, some had divorced, it was a whole different world now. He wondered why it was only now that he had noticed, and suddenly he could feel weight of time. Years it had been, years he'd stood still in time only to suddenly realise the harsh reality that nothing would ever stay the same.

All of a sudden Arthur could feel he was no longer the 16year old boy that had spotted the lean, athletic body of Alfred in the crowd. He'd become an adult by now, a cynical 26 year old adult. Yet, after all these years, Arthur still hadn't forgotten Alfred.

"Hey Arthur," a loud voice suddenly called near his ear, "Don't space out! This is the best part!" Now that Arthur realised, Alfred's voice sounded deeper than he had imagined. Deeper and more mature as well. By now he would also be somewhere in his twenties, Arthur guessed, and he could see the maturity on Alfred's face which had definitely not been there, back in 2003.

A quick shake with his head made Arthur ignore these matters for now, realising this was finally the chance he'd been waiting for, the chance to meet Alfred.

The day had passed way too quickly, as the bright summer sun had left, only to make room for a warm, humid evening. Rain was in the air, ready to fall down upon the crowd, yet no one seemed to be bothered by it. It would make a refreshing moment after a long day.

By now Arthur had dared to let himself go. His preconceived dreams seemed like reality, and slowly he could feel that one last branch of hope grow bigger and bigger. It was blooming, starting to develop more and more.

"Arthur?" Alfred said in an almost tender way. By now most of the show had fallen silent as the late night had transformed into an early morning.

"Hmm?"

"May I have this dance?" Alfred's voice seemed to come from a distance, as Arthur slowly but surely found himself drowning into the blue, blue eyes opposed of him. He barely realised how he, himself, nodded silently and amazed.

The feelings moved through his body, the warmth over every tiniest touch, the surrounding sounds and activities slowly vanishing as he and Alfred danced. Slowly, carefully, tenderly. The music sounded like the most heavenly sound as all the two could do was stare into each other's eyes, incapable of moving away, as if captivated for eternity.

They had danced and danced, swung left to right, sometimes slowly sometimes more fierce, as the festival was moving to an end and slowly people were leaving. It was then that both found themselves stop half way only to lock eyes once more, and slowly moving closer and closer to each other.

It was impossible to avoid or ignore these feelings, each other, the whole situation. They could feel each other's breath, warmth, energy. The tension was slowly fading into calm and romance, as it felt like they were the only ones out there. Nothing mattered, nothing ever would, as two warm pairs of lips slowly met each other right as the clock of the big tower hit twelve and the rain would start to fall.

But despite the clock hitting twelve and the rain pouring down without hesitation, Arthur wasn't kissing. He wasn't even near Alfred. He was still standing under the tree, his mind being awoken by the cold and refreshing rain, his brain hit back into reality by the loud, buzzing sound of the twelve chimes. It hadn't been real, it had been a dream. A daydream.

Arthur shook his head, trying to focus his vision again, when he spotted Alfred once again in the crowd. Now was his chance; Alfred was alone, almost looking as if he was waiting for something to happen or someone to greet him. Arthur could talk to him now, start their friendship, maybe relationship. They would be happy together, they would attend the summer festival year and year again until the end of their days. They would be able to share interests, get along. They could travel together, have dinner together, buy a house together.

But he didn't. He couldn't.

Alfred didn't know Arthur would have to conquer his fears, give everything.

Arthur was too afraid.

Afraid of letting go of the past, afraid of showing himself, afraid of being open to others, to share his feelings. Afraid to lose his dreams, afraid to be confronted with reality. He couldn't do it.

Slowly he turned himself around, feeling the last branch of hope breaking off. The fully blooming, flowery branch started falling, slowly and hesitantly, as if not wanting to let go. Separating from the tree splinter by splinter, inch by inch, yet gravity would pull it down eventually. Down to the pavement, down to no hope, as the tree itself would decay, no more source of energy left, no hope left.

Arthur could feel the rain fall on his head, drip down his face, as if the whole world was crying over the loss. Yet he himself couldn't cry. He was too inverted to cry, too sad, too surprised by his own feelings of fear.

If he had turned around just once more, he'd have been able to see the sad, regretful blue eyes staring at him from behind the familiar, yet unfamiliar glasses. Watching the retreating figure who had stood under the tree just now, eyes lost in despair and body displaying a great loss. But Arthur did not see them, he did not turn around. He let the summer rain pour down on him but he did not turn around.

"I want the best for you, and this is the best."

Arthur was too afraid to give himself, his dreams, his feelings up. Give everything up for the sake of love. And thus, as both figures in the rain displayed regret, sadness and despair, as the rain kept pouring down on them, slowly washing every last bit of hope away, they would still keep it a very heavy secret.

And stay silent forever.

/Author's Note/

Hello I'm back :U

It's been a while, school has been busy, but hey I graduated so it was definitely worth it! Now I'll attend Archaeology college this September :D

I've been writing on oneshots or unfinished stories over the time, as I never had enough time to make full chapters, so I HAVE been active on my own computer, I've just not been publishing much!

I hope you guys enjoy bittersweet feelings because I love writing that!

Also I should continue/rewrite a lot upcoming months! And remember, Reviews motivate the writer!

Stay awesome and I hope you've all been doing well!

I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, Hidekaz Himaruya

(06/16/13)

Major thank you to katedear who proofread and edited this for me 3